Heart of Ice

Halfwit

It was mortifying to see Jinye after that halfwit blurted out the fact that the two of them had done "shameful" things together. It was the morning after, at breakfast, and Jinye was as bright and as beautiful as ever, speaking with Yulhee about summer dresses and hairstyles. Yewon was sinking into her chair and avoiding Jinye's eyes at all costs.

Even when Jinye spoke up at the table, Yewon eyed her food and didn't look up. When Jinye asked her a casual question, Yewon brushed it off by answering with as few words as possible. She was ashamed of herself and scared of Jinye's judgement. She was also scared of what Jinye would do with the information... the thought of anyone besides Soonyoung, Haein, the King and Queen knowing about the dirty affair between Yewon and Soonyoung drove her crazy.

After breakfast was over, Jinye walked with Yewon, much to Yewon's frustration.

"May I speak to you, your highness?" Jinye asked sweetly.

Yewon nodded, although she actually wanted to run away. She dreaded what Jinye would want to speak to her about...

"As you know," Jinye began, "I gave my body to my ex-fiancée's half-brother no more than a day after he ended things with me. I'm not one to judge another woman's choices."

It bothered Yewon to the core that Jinye was alluding to her affair with Soonyoung; it bothered her to the core that Jinye seemed to believe it without a doubt. "Lady Jinye, if you're referring to yesterday night... what Soonyoung said is not true," she lied, but she was a terrible liar.

"Whether it's true or not is irrelevant," Jinye replied with a small smile. "I just want to reassure you, your highness, that if were true, I don't judge you at all. And also, please be assured that that I'm going to act like I didn't hear what he said. I will not tell anyone or start gossip. So please, your highness, relax, okay?"

Yewon nodded in response, realizing that this meant that she stopped denying it and admitted to some guilt. But Yewon felt she did not have right to keep denying after Jinye said those things. Jinye sounded very sincere in her reassurance, like she really did want Yewon to stop worrying. Naturally, Yewon trusted her and felt only slightly reassured. She didn't feel the impending disaster of a large-scale scandal anymore. She felt assured that Jinye would keep her secret.

-

She finally caught Soonyoung alone that afternoon. She came in, and he was writing in that book of his like he often was these days.

"You fool," she spat towards him. There was a pillow on the floor that she threw in his direction. She blamed him for the humiliation she felt in front of Jinye, and if the secret ever came out, it would be on him.

"What's making you angry?" he asked as he dodged the pillow.

"You don't remember what you said last night?" Yewon asked him.

"What did I say?" Soonyoung asked. "All of last night is a blur to be honest."

She threw another pillow at him. "You shouldn't drink so much," she mumbled. "Now Jinye knows about our affair."

Soonyoung's eyes widened, and he looked horrified for a second. "What...?"

"You said that the two of us did shameful things together, and she understood..."

Soonyoung had a guilty expression on his face for a minute, but he quickly erased it and said, "it's no big deal; we'll just deny it if she brings it up again."

"This morning she told me that she doesn't judge me for it and she'll pretend she didn't hear it..."

"And what did you say?"